Trapped or not?

No, not yet. A Trap would have you convinced that we're on the road to recovery, that all is going to be fine, that the current, depressed levels are a good buy and that you need to buy in before it's too late. One day's (1/10/08) bounce does not a Trap make. We're heading back down at the open today but what's next? Who knows. Just sitting tight.

Stocks Head to Lower Open on Worries of Further Investment Bank Writedowns
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street headed toward a lower open Friday amid renewed fears that financial companies will suffer larger-than-expected writedowns from the ongoing credit crisis.
The start of earnings season has investors worried about how banks and brokerages have fared after suffering losses in the collapse of the subprime mortgage market. The nation's biggest financial institutions will report results next week, including Merrill Lynch & Co., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Merrill Lynch might take a $15 billion hit from its exposure to soured subprime mortgage investments, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The nation's largest brokerage is also said to be seeking another capital infusion to help shore up its balance sheet.
Investors were also nervous after American Express Corp. warned late Thursday that slower spending and more delinquencies on credit card payments will hamper profit throughout 2008. This follows a similar announcement from rival Capital One Financial Corp., which set aside $650 million to prepare for unpaid credit card bills.

Separately, there was good news on inflation in December, when import prices were unchanged, the Labor Department said.
Also on Friday, Federal Reserve Governor Frederic Mishkin and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren are set to make speeches during the session. They follow Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who on Thursday made clear in a speech that the central bank is poised to cut interest rates later this month.

According to the RBC Cash Index, Consumer confidence has hit an all-time low of course we've only been tracking this index since January 2002.